A number of products made of components including nonwoven fabrics, such as personal care absorbent products, interact with a user's skin. Various skin disorders are often associated with the use of personal care absorbent products. Diaper rash is a prime example of a skin disorder thought to be caused, in part, by friction between a nonwoven fabric and a user's skin. A number of preventative measures have been developed and used over the years, such as the topical application of creams and lotions, in order to cure or prevent diaper rash.
Skin barrier dysfunction is often associated with loss of material and structure in the lipid-containing domains of the skin. One area of skin care product development is lipid replenishment by external applications of lotions supplemented with specific components known to be in-vivo. Use of barrier creams, such as those containing petrolatum or mineral oil, is also common. These barrier creams typically act by occluding the skin with a hydrophobic coating. Petrolatum-based lotions are differentiated from high-value lotions containing botanical extracts in that the latter are intended to deliver an active agent, ostensibly to the skin.
Petrolatum-based lotions effectively prevent or reduce the occurrence of a number of common skin disorders, but typically have required application directly to the skin between each use of a personal care absorbent garment. References which discuss this issue include U.S. Pat. No. 5,635,191 of Roe et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,597 of Roe, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,588 of Roe et al. Recently, an application (U.S. Ser. No. 09/559,566, filed Apr. 27, 2000) for personal care absorbent products containing a nonwoven component having petrolatum-based lotions applied thereto has been filed. There remains a need or continues to be a desire for a topical treatment for a nonwoven substrate that can prevent or reduce the occurrence of a number of common skin disorders associated with disposable personal care absorbent garments. There is also the need or desire to maximize application transfer to the skin at minimum topical application add-on with demonstrable skin health benefits. There is also a need or desire for an efficient and enhanced method of transferring topical applications, including petrolatum-based lotion, from a nonwoven substrate to a user's skin.